Hi Jman, Thank you for your more detailed and experienced answer to Dapumas question. Would you say, from your experience, that I should do more of a cooling flush than I have been (from the above post)? I've wished many times that I could throw an Erics thermometer on my grouphead- a downfall of a covered machine :( I know I could piece together an external thermometer but haven't taken the time as yet to do so- maybe someday. So would you say my 5 to 10 seconds is getting me down in the range or should I be doing more? Your opinion would be much appreciated, Ron

Im not really sure about that machine(JonR10 can be of big help here, he owned for a while), but I think its got a bigger HX than most E61 boxes. Along with an E61 group, your flushes after an idle period could be on the longer side, but the recovery might be quicker as well, meaning your flushes might always be on the longer side(If its fully recovering and starting to overheat before you pull another shot, you're going to have another long flush t do)

If you don't have a grouphead therm, use the flash boiling as your reference point. When you start to flush and its hissing and spitting boiling water everywhere, start your count as soon as that stops and its a calm stream of water. If you flush RIGHT to that point, lock in and pull the shot with 10 second or so, that should be your hot end. You can then alter both how much you flush, and how long you wait to pull after flushing, to get hotter or colder shots. I would try flushing for as long as a "ten count" past the flash boiling calming down, and then use rebound times up to as long as 30 seconds. You can use a combination of both flush length and rebound time to alter your shot temp.

For the sake of finding out, do the shortest flush.. stop right when the water stream calms down, and then wait 30 seconds. I would expect that the shot will be ruined by too hot a temp.. The Lyra might even be almost fully recovered.

Worst case scneario from changing your current flush technique, is you pull a couple stinkers. But it will valuable in the long run because you will know how to pull shots at different temps.

-Any owner of an HX machine should be able to comfortably pull shots at "Hot" "Medium" and "Cool" shot temps. Call "Hot 202" and Cool "198" for arguments sake.

Also, so you know, Eric S, maker of the grouphead therm, also makes a thermocouple grouphead adaptor.. Same idea as the grouphead therm, but instead of a big therm needing to have clearance, just a thermocouple wire needs to go into that hole in the group. You should have no problem installing that on the Lyra assuming that the bolt is still there on the grouphead. You'll need to open the front of the machine to install it, and you'll need a seperate thermometer to read the temps, but once installed it will look very clean and tidy, and the insight it provides is worth its weight in gold. Shoot him an email, or a PM on HB and ask him about buying one for your machine. Definitely reccomended.

Was meeting with a client today and they wanted coffee so there was a starbucks so we walked over there, and I thought, oh I will have an espresso, it was a starbucks inside of a grocery store...which was akin to going to a dive bar and asking for a Manhatten or Last Word and expecting it to turn out well

Jman- Thanks a bunch for the tips. I make a good capp but I've been wanting for some time to get my straight shots dialed in. I'll give your suggestions a try- and hopefully get in touch with Eric sometime soon about the parts for a grouphead thermometer. Think I'll order some intelligentsia- it has been a while since I've ordered out :) Ron

I rock the Anita and Vario everyday, its a very solid set-up and I love it.

Cleaning it is also very easy, the trick is once a week or so, Windex and paper towels on a cold machine. No muss no fuss.

Take into account maintenance too, the Anita is very easy to work on built from common parts widely available. Chris Coffee is also a fantastic vendor to work with for the support after sale, I love those guys.

At Clive's Coffee it comes with a begginer Barista kit (which I will need, I am going to sell my EC-155, tamper, and frother cup to my friend) it comes with a tamper, will the one it comes with work ok with the QM67? Is there any need to get anything different there

From reading some threads it does not seem that the tamper makes too much of a difference

I called CCS and they were willing to put together a bundle package for me, and they also said that it is ok to use a Stage 3 RO system in the unit, as there will still be enough mineral content in the unit

It is around 40 parts per million with the filtration I have right now (so that is great news)

So my question is this: What Tampers will fit the QM 67?

What other accessories should I be buying with my initial order, including items to clean it with? I am selling all my old stuff to my friend (EC 155 tamper foaming pitcher) so he is taking the first step down the road i have gone down already :)

Also from reading online, it appears that the Inker cups are favored over the Cafelat cups? Is that correct?

Is the Espro tamper worth the price? I like the look of the Cafelat Royal Wood tamper, however if the Espro takes the guesswork out of tamping, why wouldnt everyone use it?

I called CCS and they were willing to put together a bundle package for me, and they also said that it is ok to use a Stage 3 RO system in the unit, as there will still be enough mineral content in the unit

It is around 40 parts per million with the filtration I have right now (so that is great news)

So my question is this: What Tampers will fit the QM 67?

What other accessories should I be buying with my initial order, including items to clean it with? I am selling all my old stuff to my friend (EC 155 tamper foaming pitcher) so he is taking the first step down the road i have gone down already :)

Also from reading online, it appears that the Inker cups are favored over the Cafelat cups? Is that correct?

Is the Espro tamper worth the price? I like the look of the Cafelat Royal Wood tamper, however if the Espro takes the guesswork out of tamping, why wouldnt everyone use it?

Cups are a personal choice. People like Inker because they're good quality cups with nice heft to them. Also they're not made in China. But does it really matter? No. Just get cups that you like. I have the Inker Carla cups because I like the shape of them.

I have a Cafelat Drop tamper and it works fine for me. Tampers, like cups, are a personal choice. Some people like spending $80-$100 on a Reg Barber tamper. Does that mean it tamps any better than a $30-$40 tamper? Not really. Unless you have problems tamping I probably would just get the Cafelat one instead of splurging on the Espro Tamper. A lot of things involved in espresso are just personal choices, it's up to you and your technique more-so than it is the equipment most of the time. I bought a Motta Europa frothing pitcher for $40 but that doesn't mean I'm getting better microfoam than an expert using a $12 pitcher.

Remember to get some Cafiza, Grindz, a cleaning tool, shot glass(es) and some towels.

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